Mariano Picolomini
AIDS Awareness Week begins Oct. 20, kicking off with the AIDS Walk in Los Angeles Oct. 19 and ending Oct. 30. The week is dedicated to bringing attention and raising money to fight a disease more than 33 million people worldwide live with. It is something that everyone should be concerned and well-informed about.
The AIDS epidemic kills millions a year and it can affect anyone at anytime. Personally, I don’t know anyone with the virus, but two semesters ago a speaker who had AIDS came in to my sociology class and explained how hard it was to live with the disease and how it was affecting his life. Later, he explained that he had to take up to nine pills a day to control the virus and stay alive.
This was probably the first time I have encountered somebody who was affected by AIDS and he was able to stand in front of a classroom with people he had never met before and speak about something most people would keep secret.
After I left class that day, my eyes were opened to how many people live with AIDS. Most people put negative things aside and deal with consequences later, but just one day of an individual’s life can make that much more of a difference – not only to them, but to the millions infected in the world.
At this point, I also began to think about how hard it must be for the people who are infected and how a majority of the people affected by the virus do not have enough money to treat the symptoms. Any type of organized event to raise money to find a cure, such as the AIDS Walk in L.A., is progress.
The AIDS Walk has already raised more than $1 million and there is still one month left until the event. There is still time for opportunities in which the public can get involved.
Pierce College will be offering free testing Oct. 20 and it is important that students get tested to be sure they are not infected.
Many people who are infected do not even know it until serious damage has been done to their bodies, and most who are not sure if they are infected or not have a fear of the results.
Waiting on the effects of the virus to let you know something is wrong is probably the worst thing you can do. If you feel you may have the slightest possibility of being infected, even by the smallest chance, it would be a smart thing to get yourself checked.
As of yet, no cure for the virus has been found. But with the help of fundraisers like the AIDS Walk, it’s a step in the right direction.
Mariano Picolomini ()